1. Field
The invention is concerned with improving both the burning of waste materials and incinerator apparatus in which the burning is carried out.
2. State of the Art
Incineration of waste materials to the maximum extent possible from a practical standpoint has long been the aim of those concerned with waste disposal. Limits of practicality have been imposed by economic and atmospheric pollution considerations. Much development has taken place, but, as with technology in general, room for improvement remains.
A potentially significant waste incineration system was developed a number of years ago by one of the joint applicants herein, Howard H. Nichols, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,312 issued Sep. 16, 1975. However, a drawback to effective commercialization was found to be a problem in the control of the burning, despite elaborate provisions made for control.
We have now realized that a fundamental difficulty existing in the burning of a continuous supply of highly diverse waste materials, which includes wet materials such as household and commercial garbage as well as liquid wastes, is that the moisture content of such wastes varies unpredictably over a wide range from time to time tending to unpredictably dampen the burning temperature to such an extent that there is a constant danger of extinguishing the fire.